Archives for July, 2010

The 10th anniversary of the journal Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines is being celebrated by making all of the articles in a special review issue entirely free for download…for the month of July. It’s almost over! Grab those pdfs while you can!

It’s a simple question. Do you think Livingston Parish public schools should teach creationism? Yes, evolution is a lie 22% Yes, so children can hear both sides 35% No, religion has no place in science class 29% No, we don’t need to waste tax money on lawsuits 13% Don’t know 1% I think readers here…

Helen Thomas vacated her front row seat in the White Press (under ignominious circumstances, unfortunately), and now it’s up for grabs. The White House Correspondence Association is going to decide whether to give it to NPR, Bloomberg, or, appallingly, Fox News. Sign the petition. Slap down the right-wing propaganda organ and insist that a legitimate…

They just keep popping up out of nowhere, all shrill and assertive and extreme. Take a look at this new guy getting all in-your-face about religion. And he’s a Scot, too; even worse. Disreputable rascals, every one.

Earlier this summer, I mentioned the Oregon Octocam, which featured an octopus named Deriq. Deriq has died. It’s a sad fact that most cephalopods are very short lived. “The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly, Deriq.”

They’re Christian, so you can trust them to have your best interests at heart. The Modesty Survey is a bizarre instrument created by asking young Christian women to put together heartfelt questions about their clothing (“Are bikinis immodest?” “Are jeans immodest?”), and then teenaged Christian boys are surveyed to get their opinions. Because, of course,…

One of the more contemptible anti-gay activists is Reverend Scott Lively, a true liar for Jesus who considers it his sacred mission to rid the world of homosexuals. He was proud to have inspired the Ugandan death penalty for homosexuality law (although in the face of the outrage that generated, he backed off, claiming they…

Mark your calendars! The end of the world is nigh, and we’ve got a specific date: the Rapture will occur on 21 May, 2011, and the world ends on 21 October 2011. How do we know this? As near as I can tell, it’s pure numerology, diddling dates to create a pretense of pattern that…